So, being a small part of six nearly-all-sold-out shows just wasnโt enough for me and the amazing cast of the New Tampa Players (NTP)โs production of โGreaseโ at the New Tampa Performing Arts Center (NTPAC).
To that end, on the Thursday after the production wrapped its second weekend, yours truly, my wife Jannah and the Neighborhood News hosted a fun post-party for the โGreaseโ cast and crew.ย
The event was held at Joe Whiskeyโs Sports Bar on S.R. 54 in Wesley Chapel, and was attended by more than 40 members of the โGreaseโ cast and crew, including โGreaseโ director & musical director G. Frank Meekins, choreographer Sarah Walston and NTP producing artistic director and โGreaseโ stage manager Nora Paine.ย
With delicious food provided by owner Pat Ciaccio (at left in photo with yours truly & Jannah Nager) and his Johnny Cโs Italian Kitchen on Cross Creek Blvd. and three hours of private karaoke with Joe Whiskeyโs own karaoke jock Allan Hudson Brady, the cast party was almost as much fun as the show itself. I did say โalmost.โย
And, despite the fact that several of the cast members had said previously they didnโt want to do any โGreaseโ karaoke at the party, everyone who was on hand performed the song-&- dance routines from โSummer Nights,โ โGreased Lightningโ and other favorites from the show. There may have even been a โMacarenaโ and other dances that werenโt in โGrease.โ
Truly a great time was had by all. It was just our way of thanking all of these talented people for their efforts
Nora said, โThat spirit of community everyone was feeling tonight is exactly what community theatre is really all about.โ Agreed! โ GNย
The members of the crew behind the scenes of โGreaseโ were just as important as the cast members. Pictured are (l.-r) Shelley Giles, Mark Weisenmiller, Amogha Kuppaa, Emma Hosking, Jannah Nager, Emily Buonaquisiti, Bella Otte, Kristin Nelson,Tami Carr, Katie Carr, James Cass, Nora Paine, Heather Cleveland & Ereka Morton.ย (Photo courtesy of Picture This of Palma Ceia).
Nearly everyone knows โGrease,โ the iconic musical with toe-tapping tunes, incredible dance moves, and romance and drama at Rydell High. Behind all of the showโs glitz and glamour lies tremendous hard work from a dedicated team making the cast look (and sound) as good as possible.
As the first official New Tampa Players (NTP) performance at the New Tampa Performing Arts Center, โGreaseโ is no ordinary musical โ itโs a high-energy ride through the fabulous โ50s, complete with a 1957 Chrysler that has to be dollied on and off stage. A hidden army of talented workers ensures the showโs success, working diligently behind the scenes. They donโt often get the spotlight, but the show could not go on without them.
NTP producing artistic director Nora Paine, a homeschool mom of four and the producing artistic director, also manages the stage, with the help of assistant stage managers Kristin Nelson, Emily Buonaquisiti and aspiring playwright Mark Weisenmiller. With her headset on and monitor in place, the company feels secure as Paine calls out cues from a barely lit space backstage. Her techy husband Joshua, โher theatre saint,โ and son Sebastian also play vital roles, helping with support and lights (while Keith Eisenstadt designed the lighting).
Paine jokes that her favorite part of being a stage manager is โgoing to sound very stage managery, but itโs when a set change goes well. The stage lights go down at the right time. The set pieces move in the choreography that you need them to. Everything slides in. The next set piece comes in. The lights go up, and the orchestra syncs all together.โ
Nelson, a medical scribe and first-time assistant stage manager who has performed in some previous NTP productions, says, โMy favorite thing has been watching the cast grow. I enjoy getting to be part of the magic behind the scenes. Creating this world was super cool.โ
A recent high school graduate, Buonaquisiti adds, โI love working with the actors, especially during set changes making sure everything goes smoothly and safely.โ
While the performers spend months perfecting their lines, vocals and choreography, the director and music director are the masterminds behind the magic. In this musical, those roles are handled by the same person.
A computer programmer by day, director and musical director G. Frank Meekins says his favorite moment was when, โwe actually got our stage, and the production came to life. We finally had the space to spread our wings.โ
Meekins says that wearing both hats for โGreaseโ required more effort, as his attention was split between the two different roles; however, having true directorial control allowed him the creativity to make the dialogue and music gel. โItโs rewarding when it all comes together,โ he says.
Meekins also notes that, โWhile this show follows the movie that many are familiar with, itโs also a little more gritty and deals with adult situations differently than the movie did. We are actually performing the original Broadway version from 1972. We maintained (most of) the items that would now be considered taboo in keeping the style of society back then.โ
Professional dancer, Atlas Modern Ballet founder and HCC professor Sarah Walston provided the choreography for the showโs memorable dance routines. She taught the cast the hand jives, jitterbugs and other energetic dance routines โ a new experience for the ballet and contemporary dance choreographer.
โAs a dancer, I love โGrease,โโ Walston says. โThe community feel has made a project like this less stressful with all these moving parts. Itโs really been a team effort and a great experience for me to learn what can happen in a musical with a great community.โ
You canโt have โGreaseโ without the iconic T-Birds leather and Pink Ladies jackets and authentic โ50s attire. Retired engineer and current NTP Board of Directors chair Michell โShelleyโ Giles and engineer/teacher Heather Cleveland meticulously assembled more than 100 different costumes for the show, going as far as to research if each fabric and pattern would be appropriate for the period. Both women say working with costumes is like solving a satisfying puzzle, especially with an extremely limited budget to purchase the costumes and the materials to make them.
โMy favorite part of the job was being able to make some of the dresses,โ says Giles, who is a self-taught seamstress. โAs a costumer, I enjoy seeing the actors come to life on stage. My hobby is sewing. I sew everything.โ
Cleveland adds, โYou want everybody on stage to feel fantastic. I enjoy the creativity, starting from nothing and having it blossom into something.โ As an example, Cleveland says, โWe took Frenchyโs prom dress apart three or four times โ a new bodice was made, and we hand-pleated the skirt. Iโm pleased with the results of the work that went into that one.โ
Behind the curtain, a small army of costume, prop assistants, stagehands and costume โdressers,โ including college senior and aerial acrobat Emma Hosking, assist by waiting in the wings to help the actors with quick costume changes and to make sure they all have the props they need for each scene.
โDuring Freddy My Love,โ Hosking said, โwe made a tradition of dramatically lip-syncing along to the song. I looked forward to that every performance.โ
Among the costume and stage crew, all coordinated by Giles, Cleveland and prop master Tami Carr (the mom of Olivia, who played Sandy, and Sean Carr, who played bass in the orchestra) were Amogha Kuppaa, Ereka Morton, Ryan Pettaway, Bella Otte, Tracy Stemm, Katie Guerra, Jannah Nager and Katie Carr.
Tami Carr, a retired childrenโs orthotist and prosthetist, is the woman behind all the props. From sourcing authentic โ50s items to crafting realistic-looking food, this creative wizard turns trash into treasureโฆ literally. She says she created Sonnyโs โzipgunโ from items she found in the trash.
Tami explains how excited she is for NTP to have a new home, โThey do everything with such integrity and excellence. Over the years, it made me sad that people didnโt always see the shows because they didnโt have a consistent place. To have all these sold-out shows, I feel not just happy for the cast of Grease but for everyone. Finally, people can experience and appreciate what they do.โ
Assisted by most members of the cast, the set stagehands, led by Paul McColgan, work swiftly and silently, changing scenes with precision and coordination, like ninjas in black. Scenic artists Leiann Klein, Kyle Billington, Tami and Olivia Carr, Oliviaโs fellow cast member Dakota Henry, Alex DeJoseph and Joshua Paine gave each piece of built-for-the-show set โfurnitureโ its distinctive โ50s look.
In addition, sound man John Camacho made sure all 24 of the performersโ microphones not only worked but also had compatible levels of volume before every performance. Stagehand James Cass of Picture This of Palma Ceia also served as the showโs official photgrapher. The orchestra included Meekins, rehearsal pianist Rick Barclay, Stan Martindale (guitar), Todd DuPriest (drums), Josh Hollenbeck and Elliott Domagola (sax) and Sean Carr. Diana Diaz designed the โGreaseโ program.
Photo above courtesy of Picture This Photography of Palma Ceia. All other photos on these pages by Charmaine George
The last time I performed in โGrease,โ the 1972 Tony Award-winning musical about mythical Rydell High in 1959, I was Teen Angel and Johnny Casino in summer camp.
I auditioned to be Teen Angel in the New Tampa Players production of โGreaseโ โ which missed selling out all six shows in the new New Tampa Performing Arts Center by fewer than 10 seats total โ but the role rightly went to the much more talented Trevor Lloyd (more on him in a bit).
Instead, I portrayed radio DJ โThe Main Brainโ Vince Fontaine and was officially the oldest member of an incredible cast of mostly โkidsโ ages 15-34 โ and loved every minute of it.
With five cast members either still in or having just graduated from high school, NTPโs โGreaseโ had the look and feel of the Broadway hit and the cast didnโt disappoint. Under the direction and musical direction of G. Frank Meekins, with great choreography by Sarah Walston, these very young performers wowed close to 2,000 people between the six shows.
โWeโre season ticket holders at the Straz Center (in downtown Tampa),โ one couple told me after the first performance. โAnd this was a good as anything weโve seen there.โ
Were they kidding or exaggerating? Not in my book. Real-life substitute teacher Dylan Fidler was a powerhouse as Danny, especially his hand jive contest-winning duet dance with Makayla Raines as Cha-Cha DiGregorio, and crowd-pleasing karaoke favorite duet โSummer Nightsโ with Olivia Carrโs innocent (but later transformed) Sandy. At 17, โLivโ owns her own music business and she and Dylan also got high marks for the Olivia Newton-John/John Travolta duet โYouโre the One that I Wantโ from the hit 1978 movie version of the show.
But, the rest of the cast members were all so talented and fun to work with, too.
Kyle Fisher, who works for USAA Insurance, was perfectly cast as Kenickie. His rendition of โGreased Lightning,โ with Walstonโs outstanding choreography with both the full-sized 1957 Chrysler and most of the guys in the cast, definitely rocked the house.
Target employee Jake Veit, 22, who was rightfully likened to late-โ50s pop star Ricky Nelson by Broadway World.com reviewer Peter Nason, charmed while singing โThose Magic Changes,โ while the duet between 18-year-old Tripp Peavyhouse (as Roger, aka โRumpโ) and University of Tampa musical theatre major Anna Jeffries (as Jan) on โMooningโ was so sweet and cute it gave me a toothache every time.
Meanwhile, 22-year-old Heather Rich (Marty), who hopes to be a forensic psychologist after graduating with Psychology and Theatre degrees from the same program at UT as Jeffries, belted out a stirring โFreddy, My Love.โ
And, commercial leasing agent Alyson Gannon was another audience favorite as the rough-edged Rizzo, whose sarcastic โLook at Me, Iโm Sandra Deeโ was one of the best-received songs in Act 1, and her heartfelt โThere are Worse Things I Could Doโ was one of the top moments from Act 2.
Speaking of Act 2, Lloyd, who previously wrote for another local publication and who currently writes for Savvy Dealer automotive websites, was a super-cool Johnny Casino on โBorn to Hand Jiveโ and a true show-stopper as the Teen Angel on โBeauty School Dropout.โ Oh, how I wish I could match Trevorโs falsetto. โDropoutโ also featured most of the female cast members in pyramidic hair curlers providing comic relief. Props also go out to Chelsea Orvis, an ensemble player who not only rejects my Vince character at the dance but who also sang โItโs Raining on Prom Nightโ as a beautiful duet with Sandy โ even though Chelsea was off-stage for the entire song, as it was supposed to be coming from a radio in Sandyโs lonely bedroom.
As for the cast members who didnโt have solo songs or duets, whether featured players or members of the ensemble, their backing vocals were always outstanding and their dance moves were super-impressive. One such standout was Michael Figueroa as the crude Sonny, who spent as much time being battered around the stage by Kenickie, Danny and even stay-at-home mom Suzanne Bainbridgeโs Miss Lynch character when he wasnโt turning cartwheels or other athletic dance moves (which he says he learned how to do from the Just Dance! video game; who knew?).
Ariyonna Thomas, who manages two local Join Chiropractic centers, was super-cute as the high school and beauty school dropout Frenchy, who loves her friends but canโt pronounce anyone elseโs name correctly.
Although theyโre also really good singers and dancers as part of the ensemble on most of the musical numbers, Starbucks barista Cassidy Haberland was great as Patty, the peppy cheerleader whoโs sweet on Danny, while young substitute teacher Zach Smith provided lots of laughs as the bumbling class valedictorian Eugene. Meekins, Walston and NTP producing artistic director (and โGreaseโ stage manager) Nora Paine also did a great job of picking their ensemble players.
Not only was Raines, a behavioral therapist who works with special needs kids (including as one of the on-stage mentors during NTPโs Penguin Productions), amazing as Cha-Cha, her voice was as impressive as her dancing and her acting was spot-on, too.
Dakota Henry, at 15, was the youngest cast member. She is just starting her sophomore year at Pasco High, but she already is an accomplished singer who also has professional dance credits and is a standout in every ensemble dance number. Also fantastic was credit card processor Zane Sanrsour, who also learned how to dance from Just Dance!, but who somehow knew not only his own dance steps, but everyone elseโs, too. I told Zane I would give him a much-deserved โassistant choreographerโ credit for his efforts.
The remaining ensemble players also all had beautiful singing voices and auditioned for bigger roles, but that doesnโt mean they werenโt just as important to the success of the show, as they were the people most responsible for moving and locking down the brakes on the big, rolling set pieces between every scene.
Michael Neary, a remote IT tech for Stavvy in Boston, was Paineโs go-to guy for making sure everything was in its proper place on stage. He also earned laughs for his over-the-top solo hand jive during the dance contest.
Amanda Schapiro, a high school math teacher; Wesley Santana, who works for GTE Financial; and youngsters Mia De Choudens, a 17-year-old Wharton High senior; and Cypress Creek high junior Julian Rebelo, 16 (who also works at Sbarro at the Tampa Premium Outlets); rounded out the cast.
Yes, I was by far the oldest of the performers and had the smallest of all the speaking parts, but I canโt imagine that anyone had more fun on stage in โGreaseโ than I did. I even got my first-ever stage review from BrodwayWorld.comโs Nason, who raved about the show as a whole and called me โsuch a fun presence.โ Thanks, Peter!
โShrekโ Is Next!
Although the cast had not yet been announced at our press time for NTPโs production of โShrek, the Musicalโ (with shows Oct. 20-22 & 27-29) the auditions already were held and I chose to not try out, after seeing what a huge commitment it was to perform with this community theatre troupe. I canโt thank Nora, Frank, Sarah and the entire cast and crew (again, see pg. 28) for making me feel so at home. For โShrekโ tickets and more info, visit NewTampaPlayers.org.
